No US tsunami threat after 7.6 quake in Pacific

HONOLULU (AP) -- U.S. officials say there is no threat of a tsunami to the coasts of California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii or Alaska after a magnitude-7.6 earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean near the Solomon Islands.

Director Paul Whitmore of the National Tsunami Warning Center in Alaska said powerful waves don't threaten the U.S. West Coast or Canada after the quake hit after noon Pacific time.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii says Hawaii isn't threatened after the earthquake's magnitude was downgraded from initial estimates.

The earthquake's epicenter was 200 miles southeast of Honiara, the Solomons capital, and hit at 7:14 a.m. local time.

Originally estimated at magnitude-8.3, it was downgraded twice.

The downgrade also prompted canceling of a brief tsunami watch for the U.S. island territories of American Samoa and Guam.